Gallagher Executive Compensation and Benefits Survey l Gallagher 2024

Thank you for joining us for another episode of the CU Lab. I’m Madeline Kronfeld, with America’s Credit Unions and I’ll be your moderator. Today I am sitting down with Liz Santos, Chief of Staff at Gallagher, and we are going to talk about the annual Gallagher Executive Compensation and Benefits Survey. 

It’s one of the credit union industry’s premier resources for compensation data. The report provides hundreds of data points for salary, scorecards, retention plans, and more, enabling credit unions to make better decisions for their rewards strategy. We talk about who participated in the survey, the positions included in the survey, key trends that stood out in this year’s survey that are noteworthy, and how credit unions can access the report and use the data. 

 

In This Episode:

[00:32] Today, I am sitting down with Liz Santos, Chief of Staff at Gallagher, and we are going to talk about the annual Gallagher Executive Compensation and Benefits Survey.

[01:11] They sent invitations to all credit unions across the country to participate in the survey, so that included federal charters, state charters, and those credit unions that are privately insured.  More than 700 credit unions participated and provided information for about 2500 of their executives. 

[02:03] Traditionally, the report has included the CEO as well as the next four executives in terms of salary. This year, they also added CFO-specific information. 

[04:01] Over ten years, the annual raise percentage has more than doubled. In 2015, the average increase was 3%, and today it is 7%. When executive's salaries are strong and increasing that is a good reflection on the industry as a whole. 

[05:53] Another trend that I think credit unions should consider is annual incentives. 70% of CEOs have some sort of annual bonus or incentive. 

[06:52] Previously, the type of plan was split, but now we are starting to see more plans lean toward the formal type. This year 38% of those plans were formal as opposed to 32% informal. That is a reflection of boards wanting to pay for performance by setting strategic goals and by pushing and incentivizing their CEOs and the rest of the C-suite to achieve those. 

[07:41] Another trend is the use of nonqualified benefit plans. Nonqualified benefit plans or executive benefit plans are used to retain and reward your executives, top leaders, and other top performers. With credit unions that are 100 million in assets and greater, 75% of all executives have some sort of plan.  

[09:22] 23% of other leaders or managers were also receiving some sort of nonqualified benefit plan. It is showing that there is a greater need and desire to retain these up and comers and build their leadership pipeline. 

[11:05] Close to a third of CEOs are aged 60 years and older. About half of all CEOs are aged 55 and older. You have a great number of CEOs who are considering retirement if not already there. It pushes that time for succession planning. 

[13:27] About 40% of CEOs have been in their role for five years or less.  

[14:15] The primary objective of resources like this is to educate the decision-makers on the state of executive compensation so they have up-to-date information on what is happening in the market. 

[16:52] Work with a compensation consultant to make the data more actionable. The data behind the data is where you can find the actionable tasks and make sure they are aligned with your strategic goals and where you want to be. 

 

Links and Resources:

NAFCU

Gallagher

Liz on LinkedIn

Succession Planning